Five times the NCAA meted out a 'death penalty.' Will Miami make six?

Allegations of perks showered on University of Miami football players call into question the NCAA's ability to really police college athletics. Some wonder if the NCAA will mete out the 'death penalty' to Miami. Only five sports programs have ever been banned from competition for a year or more.

3. Southern Methodist University football, 1987

In 1985, NCAA member institutions voted 427 to 6 to give Southern Methodist University football the death penalty for repeated rules violations. (The school had been penalized seven times since 1958.)

Its violations included paying 13 players more than $47,000, and providing monthly payments and free apartments to some players.

SMU’s 1987 season was canceled, and in 1988 the team was allowed to play only seven games – and none of them at home in Dallas. Its probationary period, which limited the team’s scholarships and television and post-season appearances, lasted until 1990.

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